Saturday, February 28, 2004
My big Lambchop review is now up, so if you haven't had enough of me carrying on about the two albums, go ahead and give 'er a looksee.
When I heard the first four tracks of the new Soulfly album, "Prophecy", "Living Sacrifice", and "Execution Style", Defeat U", my first thought was, I can't believe it, Max Cavalera we loved in Sepultura has woken up! It was Chaos A.D. all over again, the best Soulfly tracks to date, brutal and fast, Max sounding the best he has in years. Unfortunately, the moment was fleeting, as the rest of the album became what we've come to expect from Soulfly, a big mess, up and down throughout. Flamenco guitar. Guest vocalists. A mariachi band. Reggae, for crying out loud. A decent album, but another missed opportunity. For a few minutes, though, the magic was back.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Yet another new review to mention, that being the new Anathema album, A Natural Disaster. Like I said a few weeks ago, it's as good as any hard rock album I've heard in the past year. It's really on par with Dredg's excellent El Cielo, with its combination of progressive metal, ambient music, and interesting lyrical themes.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
My review of Garrison Starr's Airstreams & Satellites is now up. It's a good album, one that will probably be tragically overlooked.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
So I know now why the Saskatoon Pixies show hadn't sold out on Saturday...because of the huge demand, not only in Saskatoon, but in Western Canada, they decided to double the size of the venue to accomodate people who couldn't get tickets in other cities. A very good idea, and might I add, very Saskatchewanian in nature.
Okay, maybe this week isn't as dull as I had anticipated. Yesterday I looked in the mail, and there was the new Steve Earle dvd, Just an American Boy. Filmmaker Amos Poe followed Earle around in late 2002, early 2003 during Earle's tour in support of the Jerusalem album, documenting the guy's busy life. Although there's plenty of live footage, it's not a concert film, as Poe profiles Earle offstage and on the road, completing his play based on Karla Faye Tucker, making appearances at activist events, opposing the death penalty, defending his song "John Walker's Blues", and genrally just yacketyacking away. If there's one problem, it's a big one, as the film is very sloppy, haphazardly assembled from handheld video footage. It reminds me a bit of Jim Jarmusch's atrocious Neil Young documentary Year of the Horse, but thankfully, this one isn't nearly as pretentious and dull. It's a big mess, as it skips from the fall of 2002, to early 2003, and back again, but Earle's opinions, stories, and best of all, his songs (fiery performances at that), win you over in the end. I'd give it a mild recommendation. It just could have been much, much better. Buy the dvd if you're a fan (it's selling for a good price), but make sure you have the brilliant companion live album first.
A year and a half later, Earle's Jerusalem sounds even stronger. I still think the #7 ranking I gave it on my 2002 list is apt..."Go Amanda" is a bit weak. "Amerika v. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)" is probably my favourite Earle song out of them all now.
Monday, February 23, 2004
New review appeared today, that being my piece on Lamb's lovely Between Darkness & Wonder. I had completely forgotten that it doesn't come out yet in the US until tomorrow (it's been out in Canada since last November)...I wrote the thing two months ago. Anyway, go buy the album, especially if you liked their last one. It's excellent.
Sorry about the lack of updates, but it's a really slow time here.
Not that it hasn't been a bit exciting from time to time. Tickes for the big Pixies reunion tour went on sale on Saturday, and yes, I got mine. Vancouver's two shows sold out in less than a minute, Winnipeg in seven minutes, Boise, Idaho in half an hour, Edmonton in less than an hour, and Calgary in a few hours. And here in Saskatoon? Still tix left. We are so hopelessly out of it here, it's hilarious.
Yet another new Michel Gondry video, this time for a band called Steriogram. Very cute clip. Lots and lots of knitting was involved.
So what's my final verdicton the two new Lambchop albums? They're both very good, definitely a huge improvement over their last one. Aw Cmon is the most immediately satisfying one, the most Lambchop-like, and the trio of songs "Something's Going On", "Nothing But a Blur From a Bullet Train", and "Each Time I Bring it Up it Seems to Bring You Down" are fantastic blends of country and R & B that the band does so well. The lyrics on Aw Cmon are especially strong, but if there's a down side, it's that the album plays it a bit safe.
That's not the case with No You Cmon, as it's wonderfully all over the place, showing the incredible versatility of the band. "Low Ambition" is jazzy and cool, "Nothing Adventurous Please" (Love the title) is the Lambchop equivalent of a loud rocker, "Shang a Dang Dang" is a gloriously ridiculous blend of garage rock and do wop, "About My Lighter" is cute, and "Under the Dream of a Lie" is just plain beautiful. No You Cmon is a bit sloppier, but it's not pretentious, nor overlong.
Scattered throughout the discs are six excellent instrumentals that not only offer a brief respite from Kurt Wagner's tendency to meander, but they're also gorgeous tunes in t heir own right, especially "Sunrise" and "Timothy B. Schmidt". Both albums are worthy of an enthusiastic recommendation (you can't just have one, you must hear both), but I think I slightly prefer No You Cmon.
Friday, February 13, 2004
My Probot review has appeared today. Again, a likeable album, but mildly disappointing. Some of the more ecstatic reviews go way over the top in their praise. It's basically as inconsequential as a tribute album. I made a little goof in the review...I think I said that Grohl plays all the guitars, when actually Matt Sweeney (formerly of Zwan) chips in as well. Curious listeners who were drawn to the cd by the presence of Mr. Grohl would be better off seeking out stuff by the singers' bands, like Mercyful Fate, Sepultura, Motorhead, and Venom.
Still keeping with the metal theme, I got my ticket for Metallica in May. I know, they're not cool, and they're past their prime, but I never pass up a chance to see them. Strangely, this is the fourth time they've played my city, but the first time they sold out. Credit that to Metallica being usurped by the classic rock radio crowd over the last five years. It's a far cry from that memorable first show eighteen years ago...
Got the new Lambchop double album today, Aw Cmon/No You Cmon. Been looking forward to this one for a while now...strangely, both discs are being sold separately. Four years ago,I really loved the Nixon album, but 2002's restrained Is a Woman was a bit of a downer. Once I hear it a few times (it's a 90 minute record), I'll post my thoughts. From what I've heard, though, it's a fine return to form.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
So it turns out that ThePixies are coming to Saskatoon. Incredible news. Unfortunately, I can't find any info on tickets yet. But I will be there on April 15. Oh, yes. I will be there.
Two new cd reviews to mention today. There's the pretentious and overlong The Infinite Steve Vai anthology...I do like some of his stuff, mainly his more progressive rock-oriented music and that great Zappa-style stuff he did in the mid-Eighties, but too often his music lacks any kind of emotion whatsoever. Also appearing today is my review of Fantomas's great Delirium Cordia. The review was a colossal pain to write, but I think it's adequate anough.
The annual Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll is out today. Pretty much as expected. But why all the sudden love for Liz Phair? People are so busy backlashing against the backlash, that they're blind to the cold fact that the music is not good at all. Liz can do pop if she wants, I'm okay with that, but first, it'd be a good idea to write more than three decent pop songs per album.
Got the new Xiu Xiu album yesterday. Fabulous Muscles is a great improvement on last year's A Promise. Jamie Stewart is still dealing with some really dark subjects; this one's kind of a concept album, Stewart says it's about negative dominance, be it political ("Support Our Troops"), sexual ("Fabulous Muscles"), or emotional ("Nieces Pieces"). The songs may be gloomy, but unlike the last album, it's much more accessible (the album cover alone hints at the guy's sense of humour). "Crank Heart", "I Love the Valley OH!", "Bunny Gamer", and the amazing "Clowne Towne" are all superb, the best stuff I've heard by Xiu Xiu yet. After the devastatingly heartfelt conclusion of "Mike", unlike the end of A Promise, which left you wanting to slit your wrists, this time around, you're ;eft with a feeling of hope, a tiny pinhole light shining deep in the abyss. The last album nearly cracked my top 20; Fabulous Muscles likely will fare considerably better. Excellent record.
Friday, February 6, 2004
My review of the new Hatebreed album is now up. Goofy album, but they try.
Also appearing today, my reviews of the new Books On Tape cd (pretty good), and the recent Sheryl Crow compilation (a bit of a guilty pleasure).
More new arrivals to mention. First, the new Mum album, called Summer Make Good, is a weird one. It sounds considerably darker than their earlier stuff, and one of the Valtysdottir twins has left the group, leaving just one strange, elfin-voiced, Icelandic girl to handle the vocal duties, but the strange charm is still there. Some will find the music grating (take a look at this hilarious write-up), but I find it all rather likeable, albeit unspectacular. They don't top the magic of "Green Grass of Tunnel" on this album, sadly.
Then there's Airstreams & Satellites, by the sadly underrated Garrison Starr. This one surprised me a bit...it's a fine little country rock/folk album, and improves on her excellent 2002 disc Songs From Take off to Landing. She won me over when I saw her open for Steve Earle (see my Jan 03 archive), and she continues to do so on this very nice cd.
The Real Big Surprise, though, goes to Liverpool's Anathema, whose new record A Natural Disaster has completely blown me away. This former death metal band caught my attention three years ago with their song "Release"...the band's evolution from by-the-numbers goth music to simple, understated, brooding progressive rock is one of the more stunning transformations in music in recent years. The album is so beautiful, and so surprisingly restrained, as they go for more simple melodies, and resist the temptation to go completely over the top. At times it sounds a bit like Pink Floyd or Radiohead, but unlike the Radiohead of today, Anathema know how to compose a stirring melody. "Harmonium", "A Natural Disaster", and "Electricity" are all gorgeous, mellow tracks, while the brilliant "Pulled Under at 2000 Metres Per Second" cranks up the intensity a hundredfold. Like Dredg and, to a lesser extent, A Perfect Circle, Anathema explore more introspective, adventurous, atmospheric music and combine it with hard rock, and on this album, they do it with incredible ease. What can I say, it's a fantastic album. It comes out on February 24. Go get it.
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Slowly, slowly getting into the swing of things, as far as new releases go. Got the new Notwist EP Different Cars and Trains yesterday, making it the sixth Notwist cd I've gotten in the past ten or eleven months. Crazy. Anyway, the five-track, thirty minute cd is pretty good, but not great as when The Notwist are on top of their game. It starts off with two interesting remixes of Neon Golden tracks "Neon Golden" and "Pilots" by the band's own Martin Gretschmann, operating under his solo alias Console...the mixes are surprisingly dance-oriented, and his beats add interesting bursts of energy, especially during "Neon Golden". Also of note is the very cool, eight minute remix of "This Room" by folktronica stalwarts Four Tet and Manitoba, a very cool combination of Kieran Hebden's stuttering blips and Dan Snaith's more euphoric psychedelic influences. The Loopspool remix of "Pilots", titled "Different Cars and Trains" is a slickly assembled pastiche of snippets from the original song, but it's done in such a fascinating way, you don't even recognize where it came from. "Red Room" is a bit on the dull side, its wind instruments revisiting the jazz-influenced Shrink album. I don't dislike this EP at all, but it's one I'd suggest you burn for yourself, and wait for the next official album.
Sunday, February 1, 2004
Living in a small town in Western Canada in the late Eighties and early Nineties, it wasn't exactly easy to keep up with American indie rock. Local record stores had paltry selections, there was no college radio station, and if you did manage to find an album from a small independent label like Matador in a bigger city, you were forced to pay nearly double the price for an imported copy. So basically, you were stuck reading music magazines, wondering what on earth those bands those publications were raving about sounded like. It was especially annoying when a certain homemade album by some California slackers was named one magazine's album of the year, yet there was no chance of ever hearing it.
Slowly, indie rock made its way to where I lived, thanks to CBC FM radio, which was available only on cable. It was a fantastic time for the network, as late night programs like Brave New Waves and Nightlines exposed hicks like yours truly to a whole other world of contemporary rock music. After a year of listening nearly every night, studiously making cassettes of the best stuff they played, I became obsessed with Pavement, collecting radio recordings of obscure songs like "Box Elder", "Frontwards", "Debris Slide", and "Greenlander", eventually purchasing horrendously overpriced import copies of 1992's Slanted & Enchanted and the then-brand new Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. Pavement sounded like no other band I had ever heard: they were incredibly sloppy, yet somehow cohesive, catchy, humorous, oddly poetic, and completely charming. The more mature, more professionally-produced Crooked Rain became an instant favorite of mine, but it was Slanted & Enchanted that fared much better in the long run, and today, that debut album is the one I greatly prefer.
Formed in 1989 by Stockton, California friends Steven Malkmus and Scott Kannberg, and employing the drumming services of forty year-old ex-hippie Gary Young, who conveniently happened to have a recording studio in his home, Pavement released several enigmatic EPs and singles (including the brilliantly titled Perfect Sound Forever) before recording Slanted & Enchanted in 1991. By then the trio had taken on two new members: percussionist Bob Nastanovich, and bassist Mark Ibold, but the album was recorded without them, as Malkmus and Kannberg (operating under the aliases "S.M." and "Spiral Stairs"), as well as Young, pieced the record together on their own. The album that emerged became legendary even before it was released, as critics swooned over bootleg cassette recordings, and a decade later, it still sounds as fresh, original, and certifiably insane as it did when college rock fans first heard it.
No album title from the Nineties describes its sound so perfectly as this album. As grunge began to become oversaturated in 1992, Slanted & Enchanted offered a lackadaisical, sunny, Northern California alternative to all the heroin-drenched misery of Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, helping to initiate the lo-fi trend of the early Nineties, which would be continued in subsequent years by the likes of Sebadoh, Beck, Guided By Voices, and Liz Phair. Recorded over a couple weeks at Young's home studio, with Kannberg playing bass lines on a tuned-down guitar through a bass amp, it might seem on the surface an amateurish, cacophonous recording, but amidst the hodgepodge are some superbly constructed, albeit idiosyncratic pop songs. Unlike the often impenetrable, artsy noise rock of Sonic Youth, Slanted & Enchanted is actually fun, it's noise you can hum along to.
The opening track alone is a knockout. "Summer Babe" starts off innocuously, with distorted, Dinosaur Jr. style guitars and Young's pounding drumming (punctuated by a little hi-hat flourish after every two bars). Any notion of this being just another indie rock song is thrown out the window when Malkmus delivers his unforgettable first verse: "Ice baby/I saw your girlfriend/She's eating her fingers like they're just another meal/She waits there/In the levee wash/Mixing cocktails with a plastic-tipped cigar." This isn't just pretentious gibberish. A brilliant bit of surrealist poetry that bears a slight similarity to West Coast poets Lew Welch and Bob Kaufman, Malkmus depicts a scene of summertime ennui and longing that sticks in your head immediately. Kannberg's solos are sloppy, but mellifluous, as the song builds to the climactic chorus of "Every time I sit around I find I'm shocked." It's the ultimate slacker love song.
The hooks on the rest of the album are plentiful, as are the oblique lyrics of Malkmus, which are often ridiculously obscure. The fabulous "Trigger Cut" contains whimsical wordplay ("Lies and betrayals/Fruit-covered nails/Eeeee-lectricity and lust") and a simple, yet contagious melody, complete with a fantastic break of "sha la la" falsetto vocals. The befuddling, Sonic Youth-ish "No Life Has Singed Her" has Malkmus intentionally garbling the words in the chorus (singing "No life for Ginger"), "In the Mouth a Desert" features a great guitar melody that breaks into a gorgeous solo at the end, not to mention a rare impassioned moment from Malkmus ("I've been crowned, the king of it/And it is all we have so wait/To hear my words and/They're diamond sharp"), while "Zurich is Stained" boasts more of a breezy, country feel. "Loretta's Scars", the noise-drenched "Perfume-V", and the exhausted-sounding "Our Singer" (featuring Malkmus's great vocal delivery in the opening line, "I've been waiting/An-tiss-ipating") sustain the momentum for the rest of the album, but it climaxes on the stunning ballad "Here". Opening with the classic lines, "I was dressed for success/But success it never comes," it perfectly encapsulates the plight of directionless, twentysomething Generation X-ers wondering what to do with their lives, but Malkmus then delves into more esoteric poetry, seemingly spewing words that just happen to sound good with the song's plaintive melody: "And all the sterile striking it/Defends an empty dock you cast away." It's a beautiful mess of a song.
Malkmus and Kannberg may have been the driving creative forces behind the band, but Gary Young was their secret weapon. Pounding away relentlessly on the kit like the muppet Animal, Young has two settings: stop, and go. His fluid, often overly powerful drumming sometimes comes close to overwhelming the songs (just listen to those cymbal crashes near the end of "Summer Babe"), but his playful style works perfectly with the other two members, as his distinctive fills help set this album apart anything else you'll ever hear. Young would go on to record the Watery, Domestic EP in 1992, but by the end of the year, his erratic behavior would force his bandmates to replace him with the more skilled, yet duller Steve West. As a result, the four albums that followed would lack the relaxed, goofy charm of the first record.
In "Conduit For Sale", a song obviously inspired by his hero Mark E. Smith of The Fall, Malkmus hollers stream of consciousness lines, screaming "I'm trying!" 16 times in a row, and facetiously mispronounces the word "scion", but in the middle of this mess hides a line that epitomizes what Pavement was all about: "Between here and there is better than either here or there!" On Slanted & Enchanted, Pavement lurked in the fringes, swiping sounds and hooks from myriad styles, doing things their own way; they refused to be categorized, and that quality is what makes the album still sound strong today. The glorious 2002 re-issue Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe, with its wealth of rarities and live performances, hammers home just how great this album was, a perfect introduction for curious younger listeners. Every bit as important and influential as two other albums from the same time period, Nirvana's Nevermind and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, it's the definitive sound of Nineties indie rock.
Monday, January 26, 2004
New review again. This time, the Rob Zombie compilation that came out back in September. I love this cd to bits. Rob Zombie was made for such a cd...too much of his albums are overloaded with filler, so this just sifts the garbage out, and leaves you with 70 minutes of goofy B-movie, disco-metal fun. Besides, how can you not like a guy who samples Russ Meyer movies?
Last night's Simpsons episode had the funnies moment of what has been a very subpar season so far, thanks to the notoriously reclusive Thomas Pynchon. Here's a clip of his appearance.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
My big review of the new Slayer box set has appeared. It's really tough reviewing box sets, I realised, especially when you haven't gotten a promo copy before. You're just so glad to have such an expensive thing arrive via UPS. So although it has some drawbacks, I'm really, really glad to have the Slayer box. Like I said before, it doesn't know whether to be a best-of collection or a rarities collection, and winds up getting muddled somewhere in between. Sill, though, the music is mostly spectacular. Trouble is, it could have been even better.
Now to this Fantomas album. Never before have I come across an album that's been harder to review. How on earth do you describe an album that's a psychotic, 75 minute, single track, with no vocals, just Mike Patton screeching and howling? It's harrowing, creepy, and utterly fascinating. I'm awestruck every time I hear it, and I've had it for well over a month now. I can say that Delirium Cordia is the best musical interpretation of a nightmare that I have ever heard. It's befuddling, but ultimately spectacular.
So a few days ago, I wrote about how incredible the new Michel Gondry dvd is. Well, it was so good, that I ran out on Tuesday, and bought the Chris Cuningham collection (brudder-in-law has the Spike Jonze dvd, so I'll just stea...I mean, borrow that one later. Right, Steve?), and am I ever glad that I did get it. It's not as big a collection as the Gondry dvd; whereas the Gondry is about three hours long, the Cunningham disc only goes for a little over an hour (the music videos themselves lasting about 40 minutes), but what quality material there is. Gondry's vids are playful, whimsical, and dreamlike, but Cunningham's are the polar opposite: nightmarish, murky, and very darkly hilarious. So, like I did with the Gondry dvd, here are my five favourite Chris Cunningham videos:
1. Aphex Twin - "Come to Daddy"
2. Bjork - "All is Full of Love"
3. Squarepusher - "Come on My Selector"
4. Aphex Twin - "Windowlicker"
5. Portishead - "Only You"
I should also mention this excellent, extensive review of the three Directors Series dvd's over at Stylus. I might have considered reviewing the two discs myself, but Andrew Unterberger has done it better than I could ever have.
Melissa Auf der Maur's new album has leaked, and it's pretty good. Kind of a blend of latter-day Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle...it's a bit uneven, but has some real stunners, the best one being the upcoming first single "Followed the Waves". Right now, I give the album a mild recommendation.
The Evaporators' "(I Gotta Disease) I'm Addicted to Cheese" is my current favourite song, and whaddya know, it's available for download. Get it at once!
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
My review of the Rush in Rio dvd is now up. Wrote it about two months ago. Like I said then, an awesome, awesome concert dvd.
The new Fantomas album is insane. More on this later.
Also appearing today is my big review of the recent Motley Crue box set. And I might as well point out another Crue review, that being my piece on Shout at the Devil, which for some reason, took five months to finally appear.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Some more recent cd's I haven't mentioned yet:
Mando Diao - bring 'em in
A good debut album of straightforward, Swedish garage rock. Yeah, another Swedish retro rock band. These young guys have a lot of potential, though, and they have a real Britpop sound to them. "Mr. Moon", "The Band", and "To China With Love" are brilliant, with singer/guitarist Bjorn Dixgard sounding a lot like Noel Gallagher.
Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality
A dumb, lunkheaded, yet sincere tribute to NYC hardcore, this is mildly more entertaining than your usual nu-metal garbage. Jamey jasta's enthusiasm is admirable, but he keeps recycling hackneyed lyrics that we all heard in Bon Jovi songs nearly 20 years ago. It tries to be good (and "Live For This and "Confide in No One" are indeed good), but it amounts to little more than Chicken Soup For the Ozzfest Kid's Soul.
The Gay - You Know the Rules
Yet another album of cutie-pie indie pop from Vancouver, this starts off well ("Opulent Canine", "Critics"), but ultimately rings hollow, as the band tries much too hard to be the next New Pornographers, and relies on gimmicks like that silly accordion. This cd was quite disappointing. Go buy the new young and sexy album instead.
The new album by Camera Obscura, which comes out tomorrow, is a really good one. It's the kind of flitty Scottish twee pop that would appeal to Belle & Sebastian fans, but this album has a real retro, do dop feel to it, sort of like a lighter, female response to Richard Hawley's incredible Lowedges album. Gentle, wistful, and some darn lovely female vocals. Highlights include "Your Sister's Social Agony", "Let Me Go Home", and "Suspended From Class".
This past Friday, I came across the (relatively) new Michel Gondry DVD, and just had to get it. I've been a fan of his since the mid-Nineties, and the thought of a definitive video anthology always seemed like it would never happen, but whaddya know, we have it now. Gondry is a genius...his music videos combine technical wizardry with his own deeply personal themes, making them far and away the most exciting vidoes you'll ever see. He's made too many to delve deeply into here, but for now, here's my own personal list of the ten best Michel Gondry videos:
1. Cibo Matto - "Sugar Water"
2. Bjork - "Human Behavior"
3. Chemical Brothers - "Let Forever Be"
4. Kylie Minogue - "Come Into My World"
5. Bjork - "Bachelorette"
6. Massive Attack - "Protection"
7. Daft Punk - "Around the World"
8. Jean Francois Coen - La Tour de Pise"
9. The White Stripes - "The Hardest Button to Button"
10. Oui Oui - Le Cailloux"
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Well here I am, finally back to the blogging. Had to take an extended break, what with all the craziness over the holidays, sheer exhaustion, and a debilitating illness. Ready for another year.
But where to begin? What with my month-long countdown in December, I haven't really talked about any new stuff since late November. Maybe I'll just go over some notable arrivals that I haven't mentioned yet...
Slayer - Soundtrack to the Apocalypse
Big thrill to get this one in the mail a month ago, and overall, a good box set. Unfortunately, it could have been better. It's half a best-of compilation, and half rarities, and I wish the band would have committed themselves to either instead of both. The first two discs are outstanding, with all their best songs from 1986 to 2001, but the rarities cd is a bit inconsistent, with bad sound quality, and some rather weak live performances. The dvd of rare video clips is very cool, but at only 70 minutes, you end up wishing it had a bit more extra goodies, like their promo videos or something. The big booklet and liner notes are excellent, the packaging is nice, and it's impossible to hate this set, but Slayer just played it too safe with this one.
Motley Crue - Music to Crash Your Car To: Vol. 1
Nikki Sixx is trying to become the next Gene Simmons, as he's attempting to milk as much cash as he can from Crue fans by re-releasing the band's entire catalogue in three separate box sets (never mind the fact that the catalogue was re-issued last year). Volume One covers their first four albums, the big treat here being the original 1981 mix of Too Fast For Love, along with the 1982 mix we all know. Elektra didn't allow Sixx to have the original master tapes, so he had to resort to recording a vinyl copy of the original mix onto cd, and the sound suffers as a result, as you hear some cracks and pops here and there. Still, it's neat to hear this original version (though I still prefer the remix). The rest of the album is typically dicey, ranging from the flat-out classic Shout At the Devil to the utter garbage of Theater of Pain and Girls, Girls, Girls. The original album artwork is nowhere to be seen, the bonus material is weak, and the accompanying book is weaker, with badly-written liner notes, but if you're a fan who hasn't bought the re-issues yet, you might as well pick this one up. If you're not a diehard fan, all you need is Shout At the Devil, and maybe the first album.
Rob Zombie - Past, Present & Future
I love Rob Zombie. The guy appeals to the 13 year-old metalhead in me, and I can never get enough of his unique take on shock rock. It's cheesy, tongue in cheek, insanely catchy, and best of all, fun. This compilation chronicles his Geffen releases, going back to the White Zombie days, and comes with a compantion dvd with most of his videos (whither "Black Sunshine"?). As best-of compilations go, this one is first-rate.
